


Hello There, Newcomer

by ghostchibi



Series: Lyons Live AU [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Character(s) of Color, Community: falloutkinkmeme, Disabled Character, F/F, Trans Female Character, tags to be updated as fic progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-23 03:56:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6104042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostchibi/pseuds/ghostchibi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hazard's home is 200 years away. Aurelia's home doesn't exist. It's going to take some time settling down, but maybe things are different enough now for them to work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Rough Start

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from the Fallout Kink Meme [here](http://falloutkinkmeme.livejournal.com/6855.html?thread=18187975#t18187975).
> 
> The prompt was a situation where the Lone Wanderer happened across Vault 111 and freed the Sole Survivor, not Shaun letting them out, and eventual LW/SoSu. Also, dad and daughter Lyons are alive and well and the Brotherhood is aligned in Elder Lyon's ideology, not with the more West Coast ideology it holds in Fo4. I originally intended to finish this for Femslash February, but it's become very clear to me that this story isn't going to be ending anytime soon.

The pod door opens with the sound of cracking ice and depressurizing valves.  
  
She falls forward, half-awake, expecting to land on her face on the metal floor. But instead she's caught, a body against hers staggering to keep them both from tumbling to the floor.  
  
"Shit, maybe I should have thought this through a bit-"  
  
The stranger's legs almost buckle under her dead weight. But she rights herself, and shoves the stranger away. Nora's pod is closed. Nora is still there. The blood is still there, frozen in a bloom across her chest.  
  
She sobs.  
  
"Hey. Hey, shit, are you okay? Breathe, c'mon, breathe. You'll pass out."  
  
The stranger doesn't pull her away from Nora's pod, just puts a hand on her shoulder and gently shakes until she's back in reality.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
She thinks for a moment. Her mouth almost forms the shape of her name from before. But this is not the same. Nora is gone. Shaun is gone. How long has it been? How long has she been asleep?  
  
"What year is it?"  
  
"2287."  
  
It's not the same at all anymore. So she shoves down the name from before, the word her mouth tries to make.  
  
"Hazard," she says, swallowing down the old name. "My name is Hazard."

* * *

The stranger never says a word about how odd her name is. The stranger accepts that her name is Hazard without question.  
  
"I'm Aurelia," the stranger says, her own name quite the mouthful. She doesn't smile. "I'm glad you're alive."  
  
Every other pod houses a dead person, save for one. That one is empty. But that one would have held a dead body too, even if the one it was meant for had made it to the vault.  
  
"How did you find the vault?" Hazard asks, strapping the Pip-Boy to her wrist. It's filthy and covered in a layer of dust, but it looks functional. Aurelia urges her to keep it.  
  
"Exploring. Looking through Vault-Tec's hq gave me a list. And I figured I would search this one too. I thought that someone might still be alive in this one, just in case."  
  
Aurelia eyes the Cryolator in its case, but leaves it be. For now, Hazard thinks. This woman is a scavenger. She'll come back for the weapon, probably.  
  
"Did you see a neighborhood on your way here?" Hazard asks. It's probably gone, but she wants to know anyway. Maybe it'll still be there. Maybe there's something still left of her old life. Four walls and a roof to house her, at least.  
  
"There's a little cul-de-sac with some houses standing nearby here, yeah. Did you live there?"  
  
Aurelia's face shifts for a moment into something almost hopeful, before it disappears. She doesn't show her emotions much, apparently.  
  
"I did. Sanctuary Hills. Is there anyone there?"  
  
"Not exactly. But we should go there anyway."  
  
Hazard doesn't know what that's supposed to mean. But she intends to go there in the first place, with or without the scavenger. She doesn't know what's going on up above, and Aurelia clearly has enough compassion not to just leave her in the pod. Maybe it won't be too bad to stay together until Hazard gets her bearings.

* * *

 

Codsworth's voice warbles and wails in a way that would make Hazard laugh in how strange it sounds, if she wasn't also warbling and wailing in exactly the same way.  
  
"Mum, I am so relieved to see you alive!" His voice modulates and glitches out for just a moment, a robotic equivalent to a cracking voice. He sounds as if he's sniffling, a noise that shouldn't actually exist given that Codsworth has no nose to sniffle with. Hazard hugs him the best she can, arms wrapped around his circular head.  
  
"Oh Cods," Hazard says. "I'm so sorry. You must have been so alone."  
  
He explains that he did have some on-and-off companionship, first the Vault-Tec representative who wandered by before leaving. Occasionally venturing out, only to be chased away with sticks and stones. And then, after a very long, very alone stretch of time, Aurelia had happened upon Sanctuary.  
  
"Madam, I do not know how to thank you for finding my good mistress. You are truly an angel!"  
  
Aurelia shakes her head.  
  
"I was only exploring," she says.  
  
"You remembered my request, though! And you brought her back to Sanctuary, safe and sound."  
  
Aurelia ignores any and all questions pertaining to rewarding her, and instead listens to Hazard explain what had happened to Shaun and Nora. Codsworth seems to deflate a bit, having been urging Hazard to look for them around Sanctuary.  
  
"They're not going to be here," Aurelia says. "And there's not much good we can do sitting here looking in places we know they won't be. The best thing for us to do would be to head to one of the bigger settlements. See if anyone's noticed a baby."  
  
"Wait, us?"  
  
Aurelia raises an eyebrow at Hazard.  
  
"Listen. I may be an irredeemable bitch, but I don't let people who've been frozen for 200 years bumble around so that they can get their kneecaps gnawed off by mole rats. I'll help you get your bearings. I've got nothing else better to do right now anyway."  
  
She's still frowning. Hazard doesn't know how to read her at all.

* * *

Mole rats, as it turns out, are much bigger now in post-apocalyptia.  
  
Aurelia sees them and grumbles under her breath as they growl and snap at them, but don't attack. She waves a stick coated in a strange green substance in their direction, and they immediately burrow into the ground and out of sight.  
  
"I think they're angry at you. Usually they don't bother me," she explains, re-wrapping the stick with a bag and stowing it away in her bag. Hazard doesn't ask what it's covered in, or why it repels the mole rats. She figures it's best not to.  
  
They find the Red Rocket truck stop, and the German shepherd that comes bounding out to bark amicably at them. Aurelia bends down to pat him.  
  
"Hey there boy," she says. "Another friend to add to my collection of doggie acquaintances."  
  
They don't know the dog's name. They try a variety of names, but the shepherd doesn't seem to like any of them. In the end, they settle on just calling him "Dog" or "Doggie."  
  
Aurelia wants to keep exploring further, but night is falling soon. The Red Rocket truck stop is a decent enough place to settle down, but Codsworth is likely to worry if they don't return. Taking Doggie with them shouldn't be too much of an issue.  
  
They end up picking the truck stop clean of supplies, and between that and what Aurelia is carrying, they decide that they have enough to keep them safe and fed. The trudge back to Sanctuary is slower, Hazard being a bit short of breath from the sudden exercise. Aurelia keeps her pace slow to make sure that Hazard doesn't have to rush to keep up, a strange reverse of what Hazard would have expected given that she's roughly a foot taller than the scavenger.  
  
They end up sleeping on the floor of Hazard's house. She can't bring herself to go into any of the bedrooms, and the couches are all demolished beyond use. Codsworth attempts to make them a little more comfortable with a spare blanket laid down on the ruined carpet, and Aurelia procures a quilt from her pack. It's not the most comfortable place to sleep, but given Hazard's initial fear that she would have spent her first night alone, this is far more preferable.  
  
"We'll head out toward Diamond City tomorrow," Aurelia explains. "It's our best bet for figuring out what's going on."  
  
Hazard nods. She has no other ideas, anyway.

* * *

 

Diamond City, or Fenway Park as Hazard knew it, is quite a ways away on foot. It won't take a whole day to get there, but that's assuming that nothing gets in their way.  
  
As it stands, Concord ends up getting in their way.  
  
A man wearing what Hazard can only describe as colonial attire waves down at them from the balcony of the Museum of Freedom. Aurelia squints up at him, attempting to converse with him by yelling, but he tells them that there's not much time and that he needs immediate help. Hazard is still shaky with a pistol but ends up looting a sledgehammer minus the head off of a raider, and things go a little more smoothly after that. Aurelia has some impressive firepower, including a steam-powered gun that shoots railroad nails, and between Aurelia's superior weaponry and Hazard's ability to knock a man's head off of his shoulders via blunt force trauma, they get through the mess just fine.  
  
Preston Garvey is the kind of person that Hazard likes. Aurelia seems to approve silently as well as they listen to him explain his situation, but it's Mama Murphy who really catches her attention, and vice versa.  
  
"You have come quite a long way," Mama Murphy says as Aurelia leans down to clasp their hands together. "And seen quite a lot."  
  
"I have."  
  
"You know more than you let on."  
  
"Of course I do, ma'am. Don't we all?"  
  
"Not all of us," the old woman laughs. "But you... you know of things beyond your control. You may think that you understand, but it will never be."  
  
Aurelia frowns at that.  
  
"I don't presume to know anything for certain."  
  
Mama Murphy stares hard at Aurelia. Her gaze doesn't falter under the older woman's scrutiny.  
  
"You believe certain things about yourself," she finally answers. "Oh, but you are wrong. You are so very wrong, child."  
  
And then she turns to Hazard, talking about Shaun and how to find him. Aurelia seems a bit dazed as she walks away, moving to a window to gaze at the carnage in the streets outside. When Hazard finishes speaking to Mama Murphy, thanking her for her help, she joins Aurelia by the window.  
  
"I don't quite know what she's talking about," Hazard admits.  
  
"I don't either. But that's the point of it, I think," Aurelia replies, still staring outside. "It's never supposed to be clear."  
  
Something tells Hazard that Aurelia is lying. She knows what Mama Murphy is talking about, about being wrong. Hazard can't tell exactly what it might be, knowing almost nothing about Aurelia, but there's something going on there.  
  
"What's the point of a fortune teller who can't give you advice that you'll understand?" Hazard asks with a laugh.  
  
"I don't think we're meant to know what's going to happen. She's not being vague for the hell of it, she's being vague because that's what she sees."  
  
"I just think it's so that they can claim they're right. There's a lot you can mean if you aren't very precise about it."  
  
"Maybe so."  
  
Aurelia has light brown hair that waves across her forehead, bangs perpetually stuck in a semi-curl. It glows a little when it catches the light, unlike Hazard's bleach-dyed blonde. The black roots of her hair are starting to show again. Hazard doubts that she'll find anything to fix that with. It looks strange, stark near-white suddenly giving way to a warm black, but Aurelia hasn't said a word about it. She hasn't said much about Hazard, actually, not about her name, or her towering height, or her heavy-set frame, or her ability to pick up a two-by-four and smash a raider's face in without breaking a sweat.  
  
But Hazard is thinking of herself in pre-War terms. Aurelia's a Wastelander; maybe she hasn't seen a whole lot of Punjabi women, but she's probably seen women causing severe blunt force trauma without much effort.  
  
"Find yourself a sturdy smacking stick, and meet me downstairs," Aurelia says suddenly, pulling away from the window as if dragging herself out of her thoughts. "We've still got work to do."


	2. New Friends, and Old

"Beat it, buster."  
  
The man doesn't even get the chance to speak a single word before Aurelia is cutting him off. She crosses her arms over her chest, looking fierce, and even though she's likely younger than the man attempting to solicit from them, she tells him off with all the haughty dismissal of a bored teenager to a toddling child. It doesn't seem to dissuade the man, though.  
  
They don't need "insurance" of any kind; Aurelia's giant nail-shooting rifle is more than enough for any trouble that might come their way. The way it pierced the deathclaw's hide back in Concord resonates in Hazard's mind still, and it could probably remove a limb from a human if used correctly.  
  
"You don't know what it's like in Goodneighbor, though," the man says, grinning.  
  
"I don't care if everyone in Goodneighbor performs cannibalistic rituals," she snaps back. "I mean sure, I would care, but I don't need _insurance_ for it."  
  
Aurelia's eyes dart up as another figure approaches them; marred, scarred skin decorated with an outfit that Hazard remembers seeing in a museum as a child. _John Hancock, founding father of the United States of America_ , she thinks, _you've come back to life as a horrible burn victim._ Somehow, the idea that this is the actual John Hancock is just as plausible to Hazard as it is that someone has stolen his clothing. It's been a strange few days.  
  
It doesn't help matters when the ghoul stabs the solicitor and introduces himself as John Hancock. Not the original one, at least, but Hancock seems to have taken on the founding father's name too. He might as well, if he's taken the man's clothes. Aurelia watches with vague disinterest when Finn's body hits the floor, and her attention is more on Hancock because of his polite demeanor than the fact that he's just murdered a man in front of them. Hazard imagines she's seen this before.  
  
They're invited into the statehouse to talk, passing the ghoul mayor's bodyguard on the way. Fahrenheit watches them with the same disinterest as Aurelia from earlier, although Aurelia gives the woman a look over before the corner of her mouth quirks up in the smallest of smiles.  
  
Hancock is a pleasant person, albeit also a very druggy sort of person. Aurelia accepts a scotch, Hazard accepts a Nuka-Cola, and Hancock says nothing of their refusal of his tin of Mentats. It's not his business to care. Hazard talks a lot more this time than when they spoke to Preston; that had been more of a situation of combat, and Aurelia was much more suited to killing raiders and barking orders than Hazard had been. But this is for Hazard, for Shaun, and she needs to talk. Aurelia doesn't take control of the situation like she has for most of their time together.  
  
When they leave the statehouse, an extra bottle of scotch in hand as a gift from Hancock, they have a much better idea of where to go. Aurelia had been right about Diamond City; even if nobody has seen Shaun, Nick Valentine can help them track down the kidnapper. Hancock mentions to them that if they want another gun at their side, especially a less up-in-your-face sort of guy, that a merc named MacCready is waiting for another job. The name had made Aurelia's eyebrows go up just a bit, barely noticeable if one hadn't been looking for it.  
  
"What do you think?" she asks Hazard. "Third Rail, or Diamond City?"  
  
It's either pay up for a sniper, or take their chances by themselves and move on to Diamond City. The idea of having to spend their cash on a merc makes Hazard a bit wary, but Aurelia promises that with her, money isn't going to become an issue.  
  
"Plus, if this merc is who I think they are, I might be able to get them onboard without money. We'll probably do a little bit of exchanging of services instead. But it's your call."  
  
A merc is only really out for money, in the end, and Hazard wants people whom she can trust. If the merc is someone whom Aurelia knows, maybe she can trust them, even if they've got caps on their mind.  
  
"Let's take a chance on the mercenary, then," Hazard replies. "But if it's not who you think, I'm not so sure I want to."  
  
"Of course, Haz," Aurelia says, and the nickname makes Hazard laugh.

* * *

 

"HEY RJ, HOW'S IT LIKE BEING A STUPID MUNGO?"  
  
Aurelia's voice booms through the small room, and immediately the two men standing in front of them wheel around in alarm. The scrawny man in the chair nearly falls out of it in his haste to get to his feet.  
  
"What the f- who are you?" he demands, completely ignoring the two men who had been hassling him mere moments ago. He pushes past them, confusion and distrust written all over his face, and Aurelia just grins.  
  
"Aw, don't tell me you forgot me? The mungo with the beautiful ass that looks just like your face?"  
  
The mercenary's face does some interesting things before it finally settles on an expression of mixed realization and horror. Hazard can't help but be amused by all of this.  
  
"Oh no," the merc says.  
  
"Oh yes," Aurelia replies, the grin on her face as great as the terror that the merc must be feeling. "Look at you, RJ, all grown up. And dealing with some mean, nasty men, hmm?"  
  
RJ turns around abruptly, apparently almost having forgotten the two men threatening him. They both sneer at him, making a remark about keeping himself out of their way that RJ counters with a bored response. Given the way that Aurelia is smirking, she clearly approves of his tone of voice.  
  
"Listen, don't ever do that again, okay?" RJ stares at Aurelia with a wide-eyed look, the kind one tends to give others when attempting to ask them what the hell is wrong with them, why did they just do that?  
  
"You looked like you were in trouble. I thought I might try to, ah, diffuse the situation?"  
  
"By asking me what it's like to be a stupid mungo?!"  
  
"Sure! Why not?"  
  
RJ sighs deeply.  
  
Once he's gotten over his distaste with Aurelia's course of action, he properly introduces himself to Hazard. Robert Joseph MacCready, gun for hire, 250 caps up front, no lower. Good with sniper rifles, decent enough with other guns if need be.  
  
"But I'm guessing you want me to stick to sniping," he says, eyeing the sledgehammer on Hazard's back and the railway rifle on Aurelia's. Aurelia's face falls a bit at the mention of his price.  
  
"Listen, RJ, we don't have a whole lot of money. We'd like to try and keep what we've got, just in case. Is there anything we could do for you instead?" she asks, attempting to bargain. "Need those assholes shot up? Need those assholes and their bosses shot up? Need a bomb to blow their entire place to smitheree-"  
  
" _You_ don't have money?"  
  
"I can't exactly carry my entire life's stash with me wherever I go, okay? DC's almost three weeks away on foot, and I'm not dragging fifteen pounds in bottlecaps with me just so some asshole can rob me blind and leave my body in a ditch. I'm serious about helping you though. You sure you don't need someone to take care of those meatheads for you?"  
  
MacCready seems to consider for a moment, staring at Aurelia. Her expression is open and patient, something that Hazard has actually not seen on her yet during their time traveling together. She's not sure exactly how much history Aurelia and MacCready share, but it's enough that Aurelia thinks she can bargain her way into getting MacCready on board without paying a single cap.  
  
"The kind of problem I have isn't going to get solved if I don't have caps," he finally says. "Two-fifty or nothing."  
  
Aurelia's expression falters. Hazard steps up to the plate.  
  
"Two hundred," she says quickly. "Everything is negotiable."  
  
She gets a sidelong glance from Aurelia and a hard stare from MacCready. He shakes his head, before sighing.  
  
"Alright. Two hundred," he concedes. "Up front, right now."  
  
Caps exchange hands, and MacCready gives them his word that once he's bought, he stays bought until the job is done. No putting bullets into people's back for a higher price. He expects the same from them.  
  
Aurelia seems troubled, somehow.

* * *

 

"I'm just trying to reconcile RJ the sixteen-year-old shithead with RJ the ex-Gunner mercenary with severe trust issues in my head," Aurelia explains. "It's jarring. I haven't seen him in six years. He was literally still a kid when I last saw him."  
  
MacCready seems old for a twenty-two-year-old. Hazard had initially thought him to be closer to Aurelia's age, nearing thirty, not just barely out of his teens. He's excellent with a sniper rifle, which Aurelia explains is actually not all that surprising given his ability to shoot since she'd met him as a twelve-year-old. She doesn't explain exactly why MacCready was shooting rifles on a regular basis at such a young age, though.  
  
The noodles at Power Noodles aren't so bad, even though the Protectron is broken and speaks only one line of Japanese that Hazard just barely understands. They'd gotten into the city through some quick thinking and smooth-talking, Piper Wright attached firmly to their side as they marched into Fenway-  
  
No. Diamond City.  
  
"I'm glad someone found a use for this place," Hazard says, looking around. "It's a decent enough structure for a settlement."  
  
"It's been around long enough for it to develop some sort of socio-economic divide between its citizens, at any rate," Aurelia replies with a snort. "At least that never happened to Megaton. Everyone lives in a ramshackle mess of sheet metal, and nobody gives a shit about having a better house."  
  
She's referring to the houses built into the upper levels of the stadium, homes for the city's elite. It seems a bit strange to be calling them the elite; Hazard remembers a time when the people had thousands of times more in sheer liquid assets than the average well-to-do folks. Even with a collapsing economy, there had been people who managed to cling to their wildly unnecessary wealth.  
  
"Big words from such a small person," Hazard says, and Aurelia elbows her in the ribs. "Are you - ow! - trying to impress me?"  
  
"How would you have phrased my comment, then?"  
  
"'Rich people live here now'?"  
  
"That doesn't describe the fact that there is a clear class divide between the people, though."  
  
"Listen, Karl Marx Junior, I'm sorry that my explanation doesn't have enough description of how the proletariat- hey!"  
  
Aurelia takes the opportunity to nab a chunk of Cram from Hazard's bowl.  
  
"If you're going to call me a Marxist, we all might as well move to Goodneighbor. That's more of my kind of political ideology, anyway," she says with a grin, mindful of keeping her voice down low enough to avoid being overheard.  
  
This conversation has veered off into truly ridiculous territory, but Hazard is at least glad that someone is here who will understand her esoteric-by-Wasteland-standards jokes. Once they finish eating, it'll be time to head up to Nick Valentine's office. They'll be back on the trail for searching for Shaun. But for now, Hazard is content to jokingly insinuate that Aurelia is a communist of some sort while Aurelia steals all of the meat from her bowl of noodles.

 


	3. Enter From Stage Right

Nothing is ever fucking easy.

Hazard has rescued a prototype synth, broken into a house, ransacked said house, followed Dogmeat to a firmly-defended fort, fought her way through said fort, and now Kellogg is taunting her with the fact that he's already handed Shaun off to the Institute.

Unacceptable. Unbelievable. Undeserving of any sort of mercy whatsoever.

Not that Hazard had ever intended to let the man live. It was always a decision between a quick death, or letting her take out all of her anger on him. And she's decided on the latter, as she smashes his head backwards into the concrete floor.

The first hit causes his skull to fracture. She can hear the snap and crack of flat bones breaking under the immense force. The second hit bursts his scalp open, blood spilling everywhere. The third snaps his neck. The fourth splatters brains across the concrete. The fifth-

"HAZARD!"

The fifth hit doesn't connect. Her arms are being yanked back before she can force what remains of Kellogg's head into the ground again. For a moment Hazard thinks that it's Cait dragging her away, but Aurelia's voice is right by her ear. Such a small woman, with such great strength, Hazard thinks, before attempting to struggle out of her grasp and throw herself back into turning Kellogg into paste.

"Hazard, he's dead!" Aurelia hisses. "Don't- quit- stop that! Look!"

She points to what remains of Kellogg's head above his eyes; there's an object, very clearly made of metal and wires, within the mass that was once a brain. Hazard scrambles over to retrieve it, shoving her hand into blood and gray matter without a second thought to pull it out.

A neural implant. One that contains Kellogg's memories. One that Hazard needs to find out exactly where Shaun was taken, and how. She nearly weeps, holding the bloody, brain-covered piece of metal and flesh, the only hint she has left as to how to get her little boy back. How much has she done to get here? Will this even be enough to find Shaun?

"Hazard."

Aurelia kneels in front of her, slowly taking the implant from her hands and placing it on the ground next to them. Her hands are stained red, and it smears across Aurelia's pale skin where they touch.

"We need to get back to Nick."

They do. Hazard recomposes herself while Aurelia carefully wraps the implant in cloth and returns it to Hazard for safekeeping. They don't have any time to waste, if Shaun is already with the Institute. They need to get back to Nick fast, figure out how to access the information in the implant, and get to the Institute. There's a possibility that they're already expected, somehow alerted to Kellogg's death. They're shoving tech in human heads; it's not too far-fetched to imagine that they've got some sort of life-tracking system hooked up to the implant.

Cait kicks the body for good measure, and to make Hazard feel a little better. Dogmeat sniffs the body, and sneezes.

* * *

"Holy shit."

Hazard has not seen an air vessel of this size in a long time. The flood lights illuminate the ship as it slowly makes its way over their heads show its outline clearly in the dimming evening light. There are vertibirds accompanying it, taking off from their spots docked to its underbelly. Hazard can't tell what kind of ship it is, just that it's large and loud and impressive for the Wasteland. Compared to the air vessels of pre-War America, it's not that great. But the fact that there's what appears to be an amored airship of any sort flying through the irradiated air is enough to make Hazard stare.

Aurelia's face goes from shock to unbridled glee.

"Sarah!" she yells up at the ship, and Hazard has a momentary heart attack at the use of the name. How did Aurelia know? There was nothing of that name that existed in Hazard anymore, nobody to call her that, no records, no-

It takes a moment for Hazard to realize that Aurelia isn't actually talking about her. It's directed at the ship, or more accurately someone who is likely aboard the ship.

"You assholes! Had to bring the entire fucking armada with you, can't do anything covert to save your lives, can you?" she hollers up at the ship as a voice over the speakers explains the presence of the ship. The Brotherhood of Steel. Peaceful intentions. Not to interfere. Hazard isn't so sure that this is the case, especially given the amount of pre-War military helicopters accompanying the behemoth of a ship.

"Aurelia, the hell is that?" she asks, because now Aurelia is starting to walk away, following the ship as it leaves their view, still shouting at it as if the people on board can hear her. Hazard doesn't hear Cait's comments about the ship, drowned out by Aurelia's gleeful yelling. She keeps insulting the crew, but that smile on her face is unmistakably a happy one.

"That, my friend, is the ugliest piece of shit to ever fly the skies of the post-War wasteland," Aurelia states cheerfully, and doesn't care to elaborate any further.

* * *

Hazard's first encounter with a member of the Brotherhood of Steel ends with her nearly cooking him alive inside of his power armor, which, given the situation, is actually one of the better possible outcomes to happen. There's also a measure of trust there, she thinks, the paladin somehow believing that she would not actually kill him in a fiery blast or let the synths overrun him.

Granted, Aurelia's presence probably has a lot to do with that.

Once Paladin Danse drags his clanking, metal ass back into view, Aurelia immediately rushes to him and yanks his helmet off as best she can.

"God! I can't believe you just did that!" she shouts, hastily dropping the helmet when the superheated surface starts to burn her through her gloves. Danse doesn't open his power armor to climb out though, despite the fact that it's bound to feel like an oven at this point.

"It was the most effective method of-"

"Of getting yourself killed, dumbass! Arthur's going to be _pissed_ when he hears about this."

"Arthur doesn't have to know," he says, scowling.

"Of course Arthur has to know, you had to know every stupid thing he did."

The paladin stares at Aurelia, who raises an eyebrow at him.

"Don't start with me. You're both paladins now, but we all know he outranks you _de facto_. Just because he can't officially order you around-"

Paladin Danse coughs to interrupt her. Either the subject is a sore one, or not meant to be spoken around Hazard.

"...regardless of whatever may be, it would be best if we returned to the Prydwen. Aurelia, I'm assuming that you'll be accompanying us."

"Don't assume."

"You're to report to Sentinel Lyons-"

"Once I've gathered information. As of right now? I have jack shit. If I go back to Sarah, that's exactly what I'm telling her."

"Wait- Aurelia? Who exactly are you? What are you doing?" Hazard interrupts. She had thought Aurelia to be a particularly kind scavenger, with no ties to anyone or anything. Perhaps Hazard is the one at fault here to have assumed so quickly that a stranger would be willing to lend aid for no reason and no gain, but she can't help but feel a hint of betrayal.

Aurelia turns to face her fully, her back toward the paladin. She doesn't look apologetic, or guilty; her face is the same blank stare, with a hint of underlying weariness and sarcasm.

"I'm an unofficial one-woman recon team for the Brotherhood of Steel," she says. Danse makes a move as if to silence her, but Aurelia's hand flies up to interrupt and he stops. "I hold no rank and I have no official ties to the Brotherhood, but I have friends in high places and plenty of reasons to make sure they don't crash and burn."

"You've been tailing me." It's meant as an accusation.

"I haven't."

"You just happened to decide to follow me?"

"I found someone who was looking for their baby. Logically, that means running all over the Commonwealth probably, because this kind of thing is never easy. If I tag along, I'll end up going to the places I needed to in the first place. I'll get whatever information I need. But more importantly, I'll be able to help someone in the process, without putting any undue risk on the job I have. I was already going to be trampling across the Commonwealth in the first place. Why the hell wouldn't I tag along with you, if you needed the help?"

"You somehow knew to come get me at the vault."

"I knew because Codsworth mentioned it," Aurelia snaps. Her patience seems to be wearing down, although her voice softens quickly. "Those Vault-Tec vaults? They're all death traps. They were never made to protect anyone. All of them are human experiments. And as much as I'd like to think I'm a pessimist, I can't help but go through all of them because maybe, there's someone still alive in there, and they can't get out without someone's help. And even if there isn't, at least someone knows what happened. Someone outside knows the truth, even if it's some reject Vaultie asshole."

Aurelia stares at Hazard.

"I'm telling the truth. I actually want to help you. I'm here, in the Commonwealth, because I was asked to figure out what the hell was going on. But I decided on my own to go with you, because you had nobody to help you. I understand if you don't believe me. You're kind of special, after all. The Brotherhood would love to get a look at you, all that pre-War perfection and brilliance and whatnot."

There's a long silence.

"...perfection and brilliance?"

Aurelia laughs and gestures to herself.

"Compared to this Wasteland shit, you're a fucking marvel of humanity."

"I don't wish to interrupt," Danse says suddenly, looking to Aurelia. "But my squad and I need to leave for the Prydwen. Aurelia, I would highly recommend that you return. Mrs. Bhatia, I will ask that you accompany us to the Prydwen. The Sentinel will want to speak to you, and the Brotherhood could possibly aid you in your search for your son."

"I'm going if Hazard goes."

Two pairs of eyes fall on Hazard, Aurelia simply waiting for an answer and Danse urging her to accept. She could say no to both of them; refuse them both, leave Aurelia here and go back to Sanctuary to figure out a way to get to the Institute in some other way. Nick and Piper have already gotten her this far. She doesn't need to rely on Aurelia or the Brotherhood of Steel for help. She doesn't even know if she can trust Aurelia now, knowing that her purpose in the Commonwealth is to find intel.

Hazard crosses her arms and frowns.


	4. Inside The Monstrosity In The Sky

Vertibirds are noisy as hell, and bouncy. Maybe it's the years of wear and tear and a lack of proper parts left over from before the war, but Hazard is certain that flying vehicles are not supposed to duck and weave like this.  
  
Paladin Danse is standing with both hands clutching the parallel handles, able to keep himself standing a little better with the equilibrium afforded by his power armor. Next to him, Aurelia scans the ground from the open side of the vertibird, holding onto one of the handles on the paladin's armor to keep herself upright.  
  
"That is _dangerous_ ," he chides, and Aurelia ignores him as she tries to lean a little more to get a better look. Paladin Danse reaches down with one hand to grab her wrist, clearly afraid of her losing her grip and her balance.  
  
"They're always like this," Scribe Haylen whispers to Hazard, a grin on her face. Knight Rhys keeps himself behind Danse, out of reach for Aurelia to grab at him and use him as a stabilizer as well.  
  
"Concerned parent and reckless child?"  
  
"If we're talking about age, it's more like concerned child and reckless parent. Or maybe concerned younger brother and reckless older sister, more accurately."  
  
So Aurelia is older than Danse. It confuses Hazard for a moment, but then she remember the way Aurelia had rushed Danse and yelled at him for his little stunt back at Arc-Jet, and suddenly it makes a little more sense.  
  
"We're docking now. Keep all your limbs inside, Miss Goldstein," the pilot calls out. Aurelia responds with an exaggerated affronted gasp.  
  
The docking part goes a little more smoothly than the flying part. Hazard steps off behind Haylen, minding the slight gap between the vertibird and the floor of the hangar. It's surprisingly empty, no engineers milling about or soldiers climbing into vertibirds. The only sound is from the ship itself, and the sound of the vertibird behind them powering down.  
  
"This way." Aurelia's hand catches Hazard by the elbow, and she gestures with her head in the direction that Paladin Danse is walking. "We're gonna go talk to the Sentinel. And Danse is going to get some damn rest, isn't that right?"  
  
He turns around and frowns at Aurelia, but Haylen is looking just as cross as Aurelia is and somehow the combined glares of both his friend and his field medic are enough to make him relent somewhat.  
  
"I still need to report to Sentinel Lyons," he grumbles.  
  
"That can happen after you get a decent amount of rest for once," Aurelia replies, punching him in the chest. There's a soft _thunk_ from her gloved knuckles striking metal. "I'll tell Sarah that you'll report later. If I catch you running around outside of your room, I'm dragging you to Cade and I'm sure none of us want to do that."  
  
Either this Cade is an unpleasant person, or people are going to be getting in trouble if Cade gets involved. Danse bristles at the threat.  
  
"...very well. Tell Sentinel Lyons that I will report to her later, and that I'll be in my quarters if I am needed."  
  
He sets off ahead of them, and Aurelia quirks her head at Haylen and Rhys. Haylen looks at Rhys, who sighs deeply, before they both start after their commanding officer.  
  
"I don't trust him not to sneak off," Aurelia explains when Hazard gives her a look. "And those two deserve a break anyway. We go this way, though. C'mon."

* * *

"...nothing much beyond what we had predicted. There are floating rumors about the mayor of Diamond City being a synth replacement, which are being repressed at every possible moment as expected. They don't seem to be treated seriously though, beyond one very determined reporter. There's a pervasive fear of synth replacements all over the Commonwealth, understandably, although it does seem to be getting out of hand in areas..."  
  
Hazard listens to Aurelia's report, noting that Aurelia skips over mentioning Nick Valentine. Whether out of concern for his safety or because she considers it not important enough to mention, Hazard doesn't know. She also mentions nothing of the Railroad or the Minutemen, choosing only to speak on matters of the state of the Commonwealth.

"I see. So the Institute has more surveillance of the surface than we previously thought. We relied too much on their fear of the danger above ground."  
  
"I wouldn't say that, ma'am. They're still scared shitless of actually stepping a single foot out themselves."  
  
Sarah Lyons chuckles at Aurelia's cavalier wording, although the broad-shouldered man next to her only frowns. The Sentinel is a stunning woman, clad in a black jumpsuit and a heavy auburn coat, and despite the smile on her face Hazard can sense a deep severity to her. She's letting her hair down, so to speak, behind a closed door in front of a friend of hers.  
  
"Is that all, Miss Goldstein?" Sentinel Lyons asks, and Aurelia nods. She salutes the leader with a hand across her chest, and beams at Sentinel Lyons, who smiles back. This is the first time that Hazard has seen Aurelia like this; even when they met MacCready, her smile had not been quite like this. Glad, certainly, but not this kind of open happiness pouring from her freely. The only other person in the room is the silent man, who stands with all the severe strictness of a prim and proper soldier. Hazard wonders if he disapproves.  
  
Aurelia bridges the gap between herself and the Sentinel, arms wrapping around the woman’s waist in a tight hug. Sentinel Lyons hugs back, a gentle smile settling on her face at the affectionate gesture.  
  
“It’s been a while,” Aurelia says, voice a bit muffled. “I missed you.”  
  
“It’s good to see you again,” the Sentinel replies. “Things have been rather dull without you.”  
  
Aurelia smirks at the comment when they pull apart. She turns to the man next, who watches her with hard eyes.  
  
“No hug for me, Arthur?”  
  
Broad shoulders drop minutely, and it’s the only indication that he’s about to move before he lifts Aurelia into the biggest bear hug Hazard has ever seen. Aurelia laughs, her feet leaving the ground as she’s hauled up, the man responding with his own deep bark of a laugh.  
  
“Hello, big sis,” he says in a voice full of warm affection that startles Hazard at the sudden change in personality.  
  
“Hey there, pipsqueak. Killed any deathclaws lately?”  
  
“I haven’t had the time,” he answers dryly. “My scar collection is rather lacking, as well.”  
  
"I see. Ah, Hazard doesn't know you. Hazard, this is Paladin Arthur Maxson, also known as a huge pain in my ass. Put me down, Arthur."  
  
Paladin Maxson raises an eyebrow at Aurelia, but does as he's told anyway. The moment Aurelia's feet touch the floor and she steps away, he shifts back to firmness. He nods at Hazard, who is still trying to process the demeanor whiplash.  
  
"So does he lose the ability to smile when you're not within six inches of him?" Hazard blurts out, and Aurelia's hysterical laughter almost makes it worth the intense scowl she gets from the paladin.

* * *

As it turns out, Hazard hasn't actually completely pissed off Paladin Maxson with her comment. He escorts her to Aurelia's quarters while Aurelia scampers off to speak to the proctors or something along those lines, and as they walk Maxson tells her about the ship.  
  
"I have no idea how often Aurelia plans to return to the ship, if she does at all after this," he says, and his frustration is thinly veiled. "But her quarters are open to you as well. If you have any need for help, my quarters are across the hall from hers and Paladin Danse's are two doors down from mine.  
  
The fact that Aurelia has her own room on the ship comes as a shock to Hazard.  
  
"I thought that Aurelia isn't actually part of the Brotherhood," she replies.  
  
"You thought correctly."  
  
He doesn't elaborate any further than that, so Hazard just lets the topic drop. They stop in front of a door, and Paladin Maxson unhooks a key from one of the clasps on his uniform.  
  
"The key to her room. That's the only copy other than the one she has, so don't lose it. Nobody else should have any copies, other than the Sentinel, so if anyone else barges in you have full permission to hit them with your bat."  
  
So he does have a sense of humor after all. Hazard chuckles and accepts the key with a smile.  
  
"Thanks. And, sorry, is it okay if I ask you something? Not about the ship or the Brotherhood, but about you and Aurelia."  
  
"I suppose," the paladin replies, an eyebrow raised. "Although I would ask if I could ask you a personal question in turn?"  
  
"Sounds like a fair enough exchange. So, Aurelia said you're her brother? She said the same thing about Danse, but I have to admit you three don't look anything alike..."  
  
Three different hair colors, three different eye colors, three differerent surnames. The only shared trait between the three of them seems to be their shorter height, and Hazard is certain that they aren't even of the same ethnicity.  
  
Paladin Maxson just seems amused.  
  
"Blood relation isn't what makes us siblings," he explains. "But we are siblings regardless. Aurelia regards me as her brother, and I regard her as my sister. We both regard Danse as our brother, and he regards us as his siblings."  
  
"Your parents then aren't...?"  
  
"No relation through our parents whatsoever."  
  
Hazard thinks for a moment about this situation that Paladin Maxson is explaining to her. She remembers the way Aurelia had treated MacCready and Paladin Danse and Sentinel Lyons, as if they were her own family. It doesn't seem too unbelievable that Aurelia would adopt her friends as her brothers.  
  
"Well, if I've learned anything from watching your siblings, it's that they have a penchant for wild plans. That wouldn't happen to be hereditary, would it?"  
  
The paladin chuckles and shakes his head.  
  
"I err on the side of caution, as does Danse. I can't imagine what he did to make you believe that about him."  
  
"He asked us to turn on a rocket jet above his head while he was in power armor so we could mass-destroy some synths. You had a question for me too, right?"  
  
"I believe I'll have to ask him about that later," he says with a tension to his voice. "But yes. I had a question about your arm."  
  
Hazard blinks. Paladin Maxson gestures to her left arm.  
  
"I noticed that it was a prosthetic. Pre-War-made, I'm assuming?"

The fact that the paladin had noticed that her arm is a prosthetic both shocks and concerns Hazard. Under a glove, her hand is indistinguishable from an organic one; that had been the purpose of the prosthetic in the first place. A marvel of technology, to be this aesthetically close to the form of an arm and hand without sacrificing significant function. Still, it requires clothing to completely conceal it as non-organic. Hazard tugs on her glove and rolls up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal off-white plastic and metal ball joints as she twists her wrist.  
  
"It's lost a bit of function, but for the most part it works just as well as it used to. I've had to do all the upkeep myself though, so it might have degraded a bit more since then," she explains. "A lot of wires and circuit boards that I'm not entirely sure how to fix. And the fact that I can't pull it off makes it a bit harder."  
  
"Captain Cade can help you if you're having issues," Maxson replies. "He has experience with prosthetics. Or you can come to me as well. I know how to maintain advanced prosthetics."  
  
"You do?"  
  
Maxson rolls back the sleeve of his right arm without comment. Hazard watches in confusion when he reveals a black strap resembling an elbow pad strapped to his arm, and then amused understanding as he effortlessly detaches his forearm from his elbow.  
  
"So yours looks as close to human skin as possible, huh?" she asks, grinning at Maxson as he holds his shockingly realistic-looking prosthetic. There is a connection port-like attachment at the stump of his elbow, metal and wires melded directly to skin and flesh.  
  
"Very few people are aware that I have a prosthetic at all," he says. "The proctors insisted that it would be for the best. I myself could not care less if anyone knows."  
  
"Be for the best why? What's wrong with having a prosthetic?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure. But I suppose it has something to do with their need for the last of the Maxson line to not appear weak."  
  
"That's a huge bunch of bull, dude. And what do you mean, 'last of the Maxson line'?"  
  
Paladin Maxson seems to draw himself up a little as if to appear dignified, an effect that is slightly ruined by him holding his detached forearm in his hand.  
  
"I am the last living descendant of Roger Maxson, founder of the Brotherhood of Steel."  
  
"...oh. So, uh. Huh. You're pretty important then, I'm guessing?"  
  
Maxson laughs and shrugs.  
  
"According to the Brotherhood, my soul is forged in steel and I am fated to become the High Elder. According to Aurelia, I am no different from any other human being, with strengths and weaknesses that are all acceptable in being human. I prefer Aurelia's stance more."  
  
Maxson re-attaches his prosthetic, and it clicks into place with an additional short hum of energy. With the sleeve of his flight suit rolled back down, it looks no different from his other, organic arm.  
  
"You said you had a question though? Or was it just asking me if I had a prosthetic?"  
  
"Right. Well..."  
  
He looks up and down the hallway as if to check for prying ears and eyes, before turning back to Hazard. She notices that his demeanor has changed rapidly yet again, although this time he's showing much more nervousness.  
  
"Your arm, how do... how do you deal with the pain?" he asks quietly, almost too quietly for Hazard to hear.  
  
"The phantom pain? Oh... that, well..." she beings, voice low, but Maxson shakes his head.  
  
"No, not that. From the prosthetic. Yours connects directly to your arm so that you can control it, correct? How do you manage the pain from that?"  
  
Hazard stares at Maxson.  
  
Losing a limb is a painful, traumatic experience, and the physical and emotional pain from it is to be expected. Distress, frustration, and phantom pains had been a part of Hazard's life for a long time after her arm had been removed. It was to be expected. She knew it would happen, and she knew to prepare for it. But...  
  
"Paladin Maxson..." she whispers, at a loss for words. "You- your prosthetic shouldn't be hurting you."

That had been one of the very first things that the doctors had told her. That if she ever felt any pain from the prosthetic itself, that she needed to tell them immediately. After the surgery it would be there, they told her, but it would fade as she adjusted to it. Pain meant that something was wrong, and that something needed to be fixed. It wasn't something she had to endure.  
  
Maxson stares back at Hazard, a look of confusion on his face.  
  
"I- perhaps yours is different from mine, then, the way it connects to-"  
  
"How badly does it hurt?" Hazard interrupts. "I'm serious. How bad is it?"  
  
"It isn't anything I cannot endure," he huffs. "I apologize, disregard my question then."  
  
"No, I'm serious. Listen to me, you shouldn't be in pain from you prosthetic. Phantom pain is one thing, that's another. Phantom pain happens, it's a normal part of losing a limb. But you shouldn't be in pain from your prosthetic, okay? You need to get it looked at. Captain Cade, or whoever it was you said who knows how to fix them, you should go ask him."  
  
Paladin Maxson sighs and rubs his shoulder.  
  
"...very well."  
  
"You promise?"  
  
"I promise. Why are you so adamant, Miss Bhatia?"  
  
"Because you're Aurelia's brother, and you're an amputee too. Don't start with this 'oh you don't have to care' stuff, okay? Go get your arm looked at, don't try to be tough."  
  
Hazard smiles at Maxson and pats his left shoulder reassuringly.  
  
"I won't tell Aurelia, alright? I know you don't want anyone else to know. If you go get it checked out, I promise I won't tell anyone," she tells him.  
  
"I- thank you, Miss Bhatia. And I apologize, I have to meet with the Sentinel again soon. Aurelia should be back soon, if you wait for her here."  
  
He bids her farewell and turns to leave. Hazard watches as he goes, and wonders if Danse is as good as Aurelia and Maxson are at lying when it comes to their own well-being. His room is only two doors away if she wants to check on him, and from what Aurelia had said it seems that Danse isn't the type to rest when he needs it either.  
  
Perhaps keeping tabs on all three siblings is a good idea.


	5. Big Talk, Small Talk

Quinlan deserves a punch to the face. Or maybe to have his cat stolen and given to someone less of an asshole. Aurelia would settle for stealing Emmett. He's a good kitty, after all.  
  
She hates talking to the proctors. Really, she hates talking to anyone with any significant rank at this point. She's only ever reminded of the toxicity she's had to fight off constantly. She doesn't like talking to the initiates either, because too many of them seem to hold the Brotherhood in a strange chest-pounding patriotic regard. The squires are nice, but their almost overeager desire to talk to Aurelia only saddens her; she sees her brother in them, little ten-year-old Arthur so shocked to be greeted so kindly. And all she'd said to him was that it was nice to meet him.  
  
There's an audible _thunk_ as the lights on the Prydwen start to power down, and the hallway darkens in paces with each overhanging light shutting off. Aurelia looks down the hallway just in time to see Hazard looking up at the lights, a frown on her face.  
  
"Room lighting has a different power source," Aurelia explains as she walks up. Hazard turns to her and immediately smiles.  
  
"So we won't be stuck in the dark without any lights?"  
  
"I'm sure a few people on the ship would revolt if there was a reinforced lights-out for the whole Prydwen."  
  
"It might be good for them to not stay up all night working."  
  
"It might be good for us not to fight deathclaws, but we do it anyway don't we?"  
  
"I think overworking and deathclaws aren't quite the same in terms of avoidability."  
  
"Sure thing, Hazard."  
  
Aurelia unlocks the door, and notices a key in Hazard's hand as she turns.  
  
"...where'd you get that?"  
  
"Oh! Right, this, Paladin Maxson gave it to me. You just missed him, actually," Hazard says. "He told me about the Prydwen a little while you were gone, and told me I was staying with you."  
  
Of course. There was no way Aurelia was going to let Hazard share quarters with the initiates or knights, given the curious stares they'd both gotten once aboard the ship. It's not that Aurelia fears for her safety, but rather that she doesn't trust anyone not to hassle Hazard about anything regarding why she's here.  
  
Once in the room, Aurelia re-locks the door and watches as Hazard sits down on the bed. It's tiny, to be quite honest, nowhere big enough for the two of them. However, someone has left an extra pillow and blanket in a neat stack at the foot of the bed.  
  
"That was nice of... whoever did that," Aurelia says. There are two Brotherhood flight suits also placed on the nightstand, which is less nice in her opinion.  
  
"You've added your own little touch already, huh?" Hazard asks as she looks around. The decor in the room is sparse, but good enough for Aurelia to be satisfied that she's made it hers; a little lit picture of a palm tree snagged from a vault, a few bottles of Nuka-Cola arranged neatly on the shelf, a teddy bear astride a Giddyup Buttercup on the floor.  
  
"I'm not really Brotherhood, so I don't think anyone really can complain. And if anyone did complain, they'd have to explain why they were in my quarters. Uh, do you want to take the bed? It's tiny as hell and there's no way we can both fit."  
  
"I'm not kicking you out of your own bed," Hazard replies with a frown.  
  
"I'm not making you sleep on the floor," Aurelia shoots back.  
  
They manage to reach a consensus by both squeezing onto the bed. One of Hazard's legs dangles from the edge and the other has to bend at the knee to stay on the bed, and the two of them have to lie on their sides to fit decently on the bed. Aurelia turns one direction, Hazard turns the other, back to back.  
  
"I like your brothers," Hazard says.  
  
"I do too."  
  
"I figured that's why they're your brothers. How'd you meet them?"  
  
"I met Arthur back when he was a kid. I was at the Citadel a lot for this and that. I think Danse joined the Brotherhood some time after the Enclave fell, so I met him maybe a year or two after that. I met him through Arthur, Danse was one of the Initiates in charge of watching over him. He was the only one I really got along with."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"All the other ones hated me. They didn't like me talking to Arthur."

"What, were you telling him to run away or something?"  
  
There's a significant pause. Aurelia tries to find the right words.  
  
"No. But they didn't want me making him weak."  
  
She shifts a little on her side, trying not to jostle Hazard in the process.  
  
"He doesn't seem weak to me at all."  
  
"I know. He's not. Nobody cares about him the way they should. His parents sure didn't. Everyone else sure doesn't. I hate it. I wish he'd grown up in the vault with me. At least Dad would have taken care of him..."  
  
She trails off; her father had taken good care of her for 19 years. She isn't so sure if she should hold her own father in too high regard, considering his rather abrupt departure, but he still would have been better for Arthur.  
  
"What was it like in your vault?"  
  
Ah, shit. Said too much.  
  
"Shitty. Safe, but shitty. The overseer was the worst kind of controlling asshole."  
  
"Is that why you left?"  
  
"I guess you could say that, yeah."  
  
Hazard apparently catches on to her hesitance, and asks no more.  
  
"...y'know, it almost feels like my past is coming back to haunt me sometimes."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"Oh, I dunno. Seeing RJ again kind of felt like the beginning of it. I have a sinking feeling I'm gonna end up seeing a lot of my past, for some reason."  
  
"Seeing people that you don't want to see again?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Well, I'll punch them for you if you want."  
  
Aurelia laughs.  
  
"You're too sweet, Hazard."  
  
They both quiet after that, too tired from the day's events to stay up even with the uncomfortable lack of space.  
  
"Hey Hazard?" Aurelia asks suddenly.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Thanks for trusting me."  
  
"About?"  
  
"Why I was helping you."  
  
"Oh. Yeah."  
  
The reply is short, and Hazard is asleep soon after. Aurelia looks over her shoulder, watching air blowing from the vents ruffle bleach-blonde hair lightly.

"G'night, Blondie," she says quietly, and settles back in to sleep.


	6. The Pen And The Sword

Senior Scribe Rosner is, without a doubt, one of Aurelia's favorite people on the Prydwen.  
  
"You're still here," he says with a slight widening of his eyes before his face settles back into his usual resting boredom. "Shalom, Aurelia."  
  
Aurelia waves and gives him a little shrug as if to say "you got me."  
  
"Heya. Can I ask a favor, Trinn?"  
  
"You can always ask me favors, it keeps me in good standing with you," he replies, and Aurelia holds out a holotape to him. Taking the holotape, he loads the data into his terminal without a moment of hesitation or to ask exactly what it is he's been given.  
  
"...where did you get this from?"  
  
"The Castle."  
  
"What exactly do you want me to do with this?"  
  
"Optimize it. I know that the schematics aren't as efficient as they could be."  
  
Trinn leans back and crosses his arms, watching as images pop onto the screen. He squints.  
  
"These are powerful enough as-is to knock the Prydwen out of the sky," he says, his voice much quieter now. "Who owns the originals?"  
  
"Like I said, they're from the Castle. The Minutemen are trying to fortify it."  
  
"The Minutemen have fallen to pieces, and Fort independence was overrun by Mirelurks."  
  
"Well, the Minutemen have a General again, and the Castle is cleaned out of all watery critters, so..."  
  
"Does Sentinel Lyons know you're commanding a military force now?"  
  
"I'm not the General, Trinn."  
  
He seems to doubt her considerably about that.  
  
"Really now, after everything you did in DC, you expect me to believe that you didn't seize the chance to take on more jobs?" he asks, a slight quirk to his lips.  
  
"I'm not. Hazard is."  
  
"...your new friend is the General of the Minutemen."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Okay, so I amend my earlier statement. Does Sentinel Lyons know that she's got the General of the Minutemen aboard the Prydwen?"  
  
"Not... quite."  
  
" _Aurelia-_ "  
  
"It was Hazard's idea!" she shoots back. "We'll let Sarah know when we figure things out! And the Minutemen are still an incredibly small group. It's not as if they'll be clamoring to start a fight with the Brotherhood."  
  
"You've just handed me schematics for artillery canons, asking me to optimize them. What on earth could you need stronger artillery for?"  
  
"Raiders, Gunners, maybe a deathclaw or two."  
  
Trinn sighs.  
  
"Don't look at me as if you actually think I'd be giving these to you if I thought cannons would be pointed at the Prydwen at any point," Aurelia says. "The Minutemen can't survive another concentrated attack."  
  
"And what do I get in return for this?"  
  
"A jump in approval rating."  
  
"Hm. I suppose I'll need as much of that as I can get, especially now."  
  
Aurelia never had any doubt as to whether Trinn would help her, although the last comment catches her attention.  
  
"Did you do something that'll upset me?" she asks, crossing her arms. Trinn starts typing away at his keyboard, giving a noncommittal half-shrug.  
  
"Your sibling has been drinking more."  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Well, actually I imagine both of them have been drinking more given recent events, but I would expect you to understand that I'm talking about the one I'm dating, rather than the one I haven't seen in several months."  
  
Aurelia frowns.  
  
"This isn't because of something you did, is it?"  
  
"I certainly hope not. I assumed it was stressing out over whether you and Danse were okay. Unfortunately, I'm not that great at reassuring people."  
  
Trinn's face is a troubled grimace. Aurelia's frown deepens.  
  
"Hey. Trinn, hey. Listen. You know that you're one of the best things to happen to-"  
  
"I know, Aurelia. I know. But I'm not much use if I can't keep Arthur from keeping his hands off a bottle while you and Danse are gone."  
  
"Trinn, boyfriends aren't little happiness machines that magically fix problems. You're not supposed to be perfect."  
  
"Neither are older sisters."  
  
Aurelia gives Trinn a look, and he raises an eyebrow and stares straight back at her.  
  
"Shut up, I'm lecturing _you_ right now."

"Is it so bad that I'm trying to help?"  
  
"Well, no, but you're just setting yourself up for failure if this is the route you're trying to go."  
  
"Not the first time I've done that," Trinn mutters, and goes back to watching the screen of his terminal in a huff. This conversation has more or less hit a brick wall, Aurelia can tell. "But speaking of setting ourselves up for failure, your silence on the matter of your new friend isn't helping you any at all, either."  
  
"Didn't I tell you earlier that I'm going to tell Sarah when-"  
  
"No, not that. Does she know about that massive crush you have on her?"  
  
Senior motherfucking Scribe Trinn goddamn Rosner and his motherfucking goddamn bluntness. Aurelia wants to jump the desk and strangle him. He keeps typing away, eyes glued to the monitor, but Aurelia knows that internally he's grinning.  
  
"That is not a good way to earn approval points."  
  
"Does it run in the family then, the difficulty with dealing with crushes? I know that Danse certainly does, although that's also a bit of a situation. And Arthur told me that-"  
  
"Oh my god, shut up."  
  
This time the grin does show itself on Trinn's face.  
  
"So, I'm assuming she has no idea?"  
  
"Well, she hasn't asked me, and I don't exactly trip over my feet like _some_ people do when they're in love."  
  
"Okay, listen, that tripping thing happened _once_ and I had a very bad view of what was in front of me, and that crate should _not_ have been on the floor right there-"  
  
"Very conveniently walking past Arthur-"  
  
"Oh, don't even start with me, I've seen that look you get when you're talking to her-"  
  
"What look?!"  
  
"The one where you raise your eyebrows as if you're perpectually astounded by everything that comes out of her mouth-"  
  
"Really? I'm getting criticized by _you_ for not being sneaky about my crush? Everyone can see all the goddamn hearts in the air around you and Arthur every time you're within arm's reach-"  
  
"I'm not hearing this slander, I'm too busy working on optimizing these plans for you-"  
  
"Trinn Rosner, I hate you so much."  
  
"Aurelia Goldstein, you are a disruption to my peace and happiness."  
  
Aurelia crosses her arms, Trinn looks up from his terminal monitor, and the both of them burst into laughter.


	7. Argumentative Speaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really fast update womp womp
> 
> Not exactly, I was saving this to upload next week but I kind of got impatient with wanting feedback so here it is.

Danse doesn't seem to exactly approve of this secret-keeping, although his obligation to Aurelia apparently outweighs his obligation to the Brotherhood. At least he has his priorities straight, Hazard thinks, although she's not so sure if telling Danse that Hazard is the General of the Minutemen was a good idea in the first place. The knowledge itself is a danger to have; if the Brotherhood ever found out that Danse had known and hadn't told Sentinel Lyons, it could possibly land him in a great deal of trouble.  
  
Then again, it's a little difficult to hide things from your brother like that. Or at least that's what Hazard assumes; she never had any siblings to hide thing from in the first place. He's a nice enough person. Aurelia trusts him, clearly, and Hazard doesnt' get any malicious vibes off of Danse.  
  
"There are a great number of possibilities for collaboration and cooperation between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen."  
  
Well, there's this.  
  
"Danse, for the last time, I'll deal with that bridge when I get to it," Hazard says. "The Minutemen don't know anything about the Brotherhood-"  
  
"But you do. And if you are a Minuteman, they would trust your word moreso," Danse says, choosing his words carefully as they speak. "If they have serious doubts, perhaps a meeting of some form would help."  
  
"To be honest, I'm not so sure if a partnership would even do very much if the Brotherhood's only interest is fighting the Institute. The Minutemen are here for the Commonwealth. The Institute happens to be on the list of dangers against the Commonwealth. Once that's over with, what next?"  
  
"Are you really that opposed to the Brotherhood's presence here?" Danse asks, looking a bit troubled.  
  
"Maybe next time don't show up in a giant blimp and a squadron of vertibirds?"  
  
"A show of force sends a message to the Institute."  
  
"And to everyone else here. That's not a selective thing."  
  
"At the very least, would it not be unreasonable to- Arctura! You have good timing."  
  
Hazard turns around as Danse calls out to someone behind her. She almost doesn't recognize the person approaching at first before realizing that it's Paladin Maxson.  
  
"Arctura?" she asks.  
  
Paladin Maxson's hair is much shorter looking when it's tied up; let down like this, it's long enough to flip over one side and over the shoulder. The "perma-stubble" as Aurelia had called it is gone too, and Hazard is struck by how young Maxson looks clean-shaven. Arctura seems to catch on to Hazard's surprise just as Hazard catches on as to why the different name; she gives Hazard a bit of a lopsided smile, and Hazard grins right back at her.  
  
"I was speaking with Miss Bhatia about cooperation between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen," Danse starts off immediately. "Trading of goods, guarding Minutemen outposts and settlements, and possibly even exchanging intel on the Institute. Miss Bhatia doesn't believe it would be of benefit."  
  
"I never said it wouldn't benefit, I said I don't think it would work as well as you think it will," Hazard corrects him. "You're after the Institute because you go after old-world technology, and the Institute is misusing it. The Minutemen aren't after the Institute as much as we are guarding against it."  
  
"The best offense is a good defense," Arctura offers.  
  
"That's not how it always works."  
  
"Does it not? I would say it does, especially in a situation such as this one. Meeting the Institute head-on gives them less ground to attack."  
  
"The Minutemen don't have that kind of power."  
  
"Which is why a partnership with the Brotherhood would be of great merit," Danse adds.  
  
"But a partnership between two groups with different end goals can't end well," Hazard argues.  
  
"The end goals overlap between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen, do they not?" Arctura asks, crossing her arms.  
  
"And once the Institute is removed as a threat? What happens after that? We lose that overlap, don't we?"  
  
Brother and sister look to each other, seemingly realizing that their argument is lost.

"The Brotherhood is not solely interested in furthering itself," Arctura says, although she doesn't sound so sure of herself. "We help Wastelanders, but we can only do that if Wastelanders allow us to help them. Hazard, you are uniquely situated by virtue of your position. You have the ability to create alliances, and you have Aurelia on your side. And by virtue of having her on your side, you have us as well. The voices of a highly-regarded paladin and the last Maxson descendant are still very, very influential, whether or not it may seem that way. And Sentinel Lyons is not interested in power grabs or politics, and given an alliance formed with her with Elder Lyons' agreement, she would never intentionally do anything to harm the Minutemen."  
  
"Is this your way of saying you'll talk people out of screwing me over? Didn't you say you didn't like Brotherhood politics?" Hazard asks Arctura.  
  
"Participation in it for someone such as myself is... more or less forced upon," Arctura replies with a certain distaste in her voice. "Regardless, what I'm trying to say is that we know what we're doing. If you'll trust us, we won't break your trust."  
  
They both look so earnest about it, and Hazard finds it difficult to say that she doesn't trust the Brotherhood. How can she, when even Aurelia doesn't?  
  
Do they even know that Aurelia doesn't trust the Brotherhood?  
  
"I'll consider it," Hazard says with a finality that declares the conversation finished. Thankfully, both of them only nod. "You're both tough to shake when you've got your mind set on something, y'know. Like a pair of deathclaws, or something."  
  
Danse's face immediately does something interesting, switching between several different emotions at once before he looks away. Arctura, on the other hand, just grins.  
  
"Trust me, we're much hardier than deathclaws," she replies with a hard glint in her eyes, and Danse glares at her.  
  
" _Arctura._ "  
  
"We are, and we have proof, don't we?"  
  
"If Cutler were here, even he would yell at you for that," Danse snaps, and Arctura frowns in response.  
  
"Are we back to using Cutler as a measure of-"  
  
"Hey hey, no fighting," Hazard says hastily. "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry. I promise I won't mention it again."  
  
Both of them nod, although Danse still seems on edge. Between their disagreement over Brotherhood-Minutemen cooperation and this accident, Hazard wonders if she's made him wary of her.


	8. In Memory of Memories

"I don't remember my mother."

That's a rather alarming thing to hear out of nowhere. Hazard looks at Aurelia, who is staring at the ground with a pensive expression as if pondering the mysteries of the universe, rather than dealing with a clearly distressing fact.

"...what?" Scribe Rosner asks, his head turning toward Aurelia as well. He's spent the past ten minutes in silence transferring several files to Hazard's Pip-Boy, apparently upgraded schematics for the artillery cannons Hazard had discovered at Castle. Hazard hadn't exactly been happy that Aurelia had readily handed them over to a Brotherhood scribe, but she'd promised that Senior Scribe Rosner could be trusted.

Aurelia looks up at the two of them, blinks, and then realizes that they're staring at her.

"Oh. I was just thinking. I guess my memory's gotten worse," she says with a shrug. "I don't remember as much as I used to. Damn."

"I wouldn't expect you to..." Scribe Rosner replies, his brow furrowing. "And I'm shocked you'd remember anything of your mother at all."

"No, I'm- nevermind. It just... kind of sucks to not remember, y'know? It's not like I really have anything of hers either..."

Scribe Rosner turns to fully face Aurelia, the files apparently ignored for the moment. He leans onto his desk, steepling his fingers.

"Aurelia. Is something the matter?"

"No. I was just thinking, trying to remember something that was relevant but I can't remember it. And then I realized there's a lot I don't remember."

"PTSD will do a number on your memory, as will having shrapnel in your head. Don't worry too much about it. We know you're not a synth."

"I could be, you never know. What if I am a synth, just not a replacement kind of synth?"

"First of all, don't say that when you're on the Prydwen. Second of all, wouldn't that mean you were a baby synth at some point? The Institute hasn't gotten that far yet, we both know that."

Hazard watches the two talk about the topic of Aurelia's theoretical synth-ness, all of it going straight over her head. She has no idea how memory loss and being a synth have anything to do with each other, but she stands patiently until the terminal boops in confirmation of finishing the file transfer.

"Well, all done. You can dump all of that onto a holotape from your Pip-Boy if you ever want to," Scribe Rosner says, handing Hazard's Pip-Boy back to her. She snaps it on, scrolling through all of her files to make sure nothing is missing, and her finger pauses as the highlighted selector flickers over the file labeled "Hi honey!"

For some reason, she's tempted to play it.

"The file still has the same name," Aurelia points out. "It's all the way at the top, first letter is 'a.'"

"I know. I'm checking something else."

Scribe Rosner and Aurelia seem to think she's checking to see what was accessed, given their shared look.

* * *

Hazard declines to allow the Brotherhood to look at the neural implant. Aurelia tries to convince her (claiming that it has nothing to do with giving it to the Brotherhood, but rather to make up for the fact that she's put Hazard on a detour on figuring out the contents), but Hazard doesn't trust the Brotherhood. She isn't even sure if they have the proper means to access the information.

Well, not that she knows if Nick and Piper do either.

The vertibird ride back to the ground is rocky and uncomfortable. The lancer continuously sneaks glances at Aurelia, clearly unhappy with her for some reason, and Aurelia passes the time by staring at the back of the lancer's head, silently counting the seconds between each glance while mouthing the numbers at Hazard. It's entertaining, at least.

They land closer to Goodneighbor, clearly a choice made by Aurelia just for the purpose of pissing the lancer off even further. It means a longer walk to Diamond City for the two of them, but seeing the lancer's beet-red face makes Hazard admit too that it might have been worth it.

"That's Lancer Gavrill," Aurelia laughs when the vertibird rises back up into the air. "He hates ghouls. He hates me because I don't treat ghouls like shit, and because I had a ghoul merc with me the first time he saw me."

"Why'd you have a merc with you? I thought you said you traveled by yourself mostly," Hazard asks.

"Oh, that's nowadays. Back in DC I grabbed every opportunity for an extra gun I had. Well, sort of. I asked Jericho and he told me to fuck off so I never bothered asking him again even after I got enough caps to hire him. I did buy a Mister Gutsy off of some guy, somehow managed to be more irritating than Mister Gusties that were trying to kill me. And then I sort of shoved him in the corner after I got Charon. And then I destoyed Charon's contract. That was fun."

"You destroyed the contract you made with him?"

"Oh, no. The contract was some nasty thing, something about brainwashing? I have no idea, but somehow Charon was literally incapable of disobeying the orders of whoever had his contract. I was kind of worried I might break his brain, but I asked him if destroying it would hurt him. He had no idea."

"And you did it anyway."

"Well, I did ask him if he didn't want me to..."

"But he can't say no."

"Not exactly. His contract is all related to being a hired gun, really. Like, if I shot him, that would be a breach of his contract. He kind of gave me this noncommittal 'do whatever you want,' so I went ahead and set it on fire."

"You were afraid it might 'break his brain' and you _set it on fire?_ "

Aurelia tilts her head and gives Hazard a look.

"Listen. Anyway, it burnt up, nothing really happened, so I told Charon to hand me all the shotgun shells in his pack. And he said no. And then I told him to shoot the hanging lamp in my house, and he said no. So we figured everything is pretty okay, circumstances considered."

"So you have a... brainwashing-freed ghoul merc, and an annoying Mister Gutsy as your hired guns?"

"And a Super Mutant. He's not hired. He's a friend. And Butch, he's also a friend, even though he's a shithead and I haven't heard from him in a while. Maybe he drowned in the Potomac."

"Wait, Super Mutant friend?"

"Think Strong, except far more eloquent."

"Okay. And the one that you think drowned in the Potomac?"

"I'm joking about that. I just haven't heard from Butch at all for some time. Maybe he finally started his gang after all that bragging he did."

Hazard doesn't ask exactly what kind of gang she's talking about, although she figures with the kind of person Aurelia is she wouldn't exactly keep a raider in close company.

"Oh, and Dogmeat. But he's old now, so I don't really like taking him out with me anymore."

"Dogmeat? What do you mean, Dogmeat's not old?"

"Not _your_  Dogmeat, silly. Why do you think I still call your Dogmeat 'Doggie' most of the time?"

"...you named your dog Dogmeat."

"Listen, that's the name that was on his collar. He already answered to it, I wasn't going to bother renaming him. That's his name."

Hazard rolls her eyes. It's a little unbelieveable to her that anyone would ever call their dog "Dogmeat," much less for there to be two dogs named Dogmeat, and ever far less for her to somehow coincidentally meet someone who also owned a dog named Dogmeat. But the coincidence of meeting someone whose dog had inexplicably been named Dogmeat is less remarkable to Hazard, compared to the existence of deathclaws and a cybernetically-enhanced kidnapper living several decades longer than he should have.

"I hope Nick knows what to do with this," Hazard says, shifting her pack on her shoulder. The neural implant is wrapped safely in several layers of cloth (swiped from Scribe Rosner's desk, if she remembers correctly), but if they don't find a way to access the information inside it's not much use, intact or not.

"I'm sure he'll know some way," Aurelia replies. "He's bound to."

She doesn't sound sure at all. Maybe letting the Brotherhood take a crack at it would have been a better idea, but if they found out how much Hazard knew about Kellogg, would they demand she tell them everything? After all, Kellogg had been an Institute-employed merc. And what else might they find in the implant, beyond a way in? Too many unknowns, one of them being the Brotherhood's reaction to Hazard hiding her intentions. Neither she nor Aurelia had actually explained the situation regarding Shaun to anyone in the Brotherhood, after all.

This probably counts as taking advantage of the Brotherhood. Hazard can't bring herself to care.


	9. Secret-Keeping For Those Who Think They Can Fool Psykers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops took forever to update this, but at least I'm finally introducing some characters I'd meant to. One is introduced far earlier than I intended for the sake of impact, but hey, I Am A Petty Person and this character being in this chapter meant I could make the situation I wanted actually happen.

 "The Glowing Sea," Aurelia says, "is going to be hell whether or not you take all the Rad-X and Rad-Away you can carry in your admittedly huge arms, so I'll just say you might want to use that power armor you've been letting collect dust in your garage."

Hazard raises an eyebrow.

The power armor in question is indeed standing in the garage of the Red Rocket station outside of Sanctuary, having remained there ever since Hazard walked back from Concord in it. The joints are probably starting to rust, and she's not sure how much power is left in the fusion core inside the suit. But Aurelia has a point, even as they stand here buying up every last bit of radiation chems for sale in Diamond City. Solomon is counting caps, hunched over a chair to keep them in piles (he really should get a counter, or a table of some sort, Hazard thinks) with the giant sack of razorgrain Hazard brought to offset some of the cap cost threatening to spill its contents all over the floor as it leans against the chair leg.

"What, you don't think a hazmat suit will protect me against deathclaws?" Hazard asks, and Aurelia's face does something interesting before she just scowls.

"You'll get fucking _eaten_ ," she scolds.

"Your friend's right," Solomon says, finishing counting out the caps laid out in front of him. "Sure, the Rad-X and Rad-Away are definite needs, but it won't be enough. I do thank you for clearing out my stock, though."

"Don't worry, we'll be taking all of Myrna's stock of radiation chems too," Hazard tells him. "I sure hope nobody in Diamond City gets radiation poisoning for the next month."

"Caravan's coming through here soon anyway. As long as you don't empty that one too, I'm sure nobody's gonna die," Solomon replies. "And the razorgrain, so... yup. All covered. I hope you find a way to repurpose all those bottles."

"I'm sure we can make bombs out of them somehow."

"That's the spirit."

Solomon is actually rather cheerful for someone who's going to have to tell his customers that no, he's all out of any and all radiation chems until he can get his hands on more supplies, but Solomon is always a bit cheerful. Probably sampling his stock, but that means his stock isn't going to kill anyone, so Hazard considers that a good thing.

Hazard turns around to ask Aurelia if she's ready to go hit up Myrna, but she seems to be busy staring at something.

"Hey, what's up?" Hazard asks. Aurelia continues to stare at a few people standing in front of Fallon's Basement. Two of them are standing talking to each other while looking at Takahashi's stand, both wearing light armor and with their black hair in military-style undercuts, while the third, with thick, brown curly hair and more casual-looking clothing that the other two, is busy scribbling onto a haphazardly held-together pad of papers. Hazard can barely hear their conversation over the distance and the usual din of the marketplace, but she can still make out part of it.

「-ちょっとかわいそうだよねえ、でも-」

「-仕方ないよ、最初からそうなって-」

"What are they saying?" Hazard asks, but Aurelia waves her into silence. The conversation comes through only in bits, although Hazard can't understand any of what's being said anyway.

「-にしても！違うじゃん！」

「-プログラム自体が-」

「-直してあげたいな～。」

「んなことしたらキャプテンケルズにしかられるよ。」

"The hell is the Brotherhood doing in Diamond City?" Aurelia asks, although from her tone of voice it's not really directed at Hazard.

"Brotherhood? Them?" Hazard asks.

"And- goddammit, motherfucker."

The three Brotherhood members don't seem to be paying attention to much around them, since Aurelia takes off in their direction and not one of them reacts until Aurelia has parked herself in front of the tallest of the three and gives him a firm shove.

"You ASSHOLE!" she says, and that finally catches the attention of the one still scribbling away on the pad of papers. " _Cutler Fija_ , the _fuck_ did you go disappearing off to-"

"Miss Goldstein, what the fuck," the shorter one who had been speaking to Cutler a moment ago says in the most deadpan possible tone of voice.

"Rude," the scribbling one adds. The man that Aurelia had shoved doesn't react very much to being pushed either, mostly because the shove doesn't really move him.

They don't seem to be a very reactive bunch.

"Oh. Shit, hey," Cutler finally says, Aurelia almost looking like she's fuming. "Um. Yeah. Hi. Did I forget to write?"

"Does anyone know where you've been?" Aurelia asks. "Danse told me you got reassigned temporarily and didn't know what you were actually doing. What the hell?"

Cutler mouths something that looks like "can we not talk about Brotherhood stuff in public like this thanks," to Aurelia, who crosses her arms. The scribbling one has gone back to scribbling and the one who had been speaking to Cutler earlier goes back to staring at Takahashi, both of them apparently unconcerned with Aurelia's sudden appearance. Hazard has jogged over to make sure Aurelia isn't going to start a fistfight.

"Aurelia-"

"Don't worry, they do this all the time," the scribbling one says to Hazard before she can finish her sentence.

"It drives Paladin Danse up the wall," the staring one adds.

"Also, Knight Commander Fija deserves to be yelled at."

"He's been an absolute asshole this whole time."

"I'm never going on another recon mission with either of you," Cutler says, and the two roll their eyes and reply with a mocking " _recon mission_."

"Aurelia... who are they?" Hazard asks.

"Literally the worst," Aurelia replies, as though that somehow explains everything.

Hazard does get an explanation, eventually, about them. The tall one is Knight Commander Cutler Fija, usually a member of Danse's squad but for some reason reassigned at the moment. The scribbling one is Scribe Mackenzie and the one who had been eyeing Takahashi is Scribe Mio, both of them apprentices to Senior Scribe Rosner. Of all the Brotherhood people to run into in Diamond City, it's ones that Aurelia knows.

"I still don't understand why two scribe apprentices who make weapons and a recon squad member were thrown together to scope out Diamond City," Aurelia says. Cutler shrugs.

"I'm just their meat shield," he replies. "I was a bit. Um. Antsy on the ship without anything to do, so they told me to go follow some scribes and make sure they didn't get eaten by the local fauna."

"Why weren't you with the rest of Gladius anyway? There's no reason to separate you."

"Well, there was. I got kind of hurt before we shipped out, and there really wasn't enough time to reassign a different team, and I guess they decided Gladius was okay with one less soldier. And now we're four less soldiers. Maybe even five. Fuckers."

"Rhys is alright, Danse told me that Cade said he's gonna be fine," Aurelila reassures. "How long have you been out here?"

"Danse and I literally passed in the Prydwen when I was leaving for Diamond City," Cutler says. "Eurgh. I kind of wanted to spend more than three seconds with him, y'know..."

"And we'll be back soon anyway," Scribe Mackenzie says.

「もうちょっと我慢」 Scribe Mio adds.

"As if I have any kind of patience at all," Cutler replies, and Mio rolls their eyes. Mackenzie is still scribbling away, although this time on a different sheet of paper.

"I see the Brotherhood is looking at sticking its hands into Diamond City," Aurelia says.

"It's one of the largest settlements in the Commonwealth, with a relatively stable government, basic education system, and an advanced enough economic system that a class system is already starting to form," Cutler answers almost a little too quickly. "The last major government that was formed in the Commonwealth was crushed by the Institute. There's no way the Institute doesn't have its eyes on this place."

"Diamond City has a mayor and one schoolhouse, and there are always going to be elitist assholes."

Hazard remembers hearing Cutler's words come from someone else before, and while Hazard does give that someone else a bit of a look, she doesn't say anything.

"I'm sure talking out loud in public about this is fascinating to you, but seriously, not right now," Cutler says. "We're going back to the Prydwen as soon as we're done. If you actually want to talk about this, feel free to ask Sentinel Lyons."

"You should talk to the Sentinel anyway," Mio adds.

"She doesn't like secrets," Mackenzie agrees, looking up from their sheaf of papers.

"You two can keep your mouths shut," Aurelia snaps. Cutler looks between the two scribes, raising one eyebrow, but doesn't question or say anything. The scribes themselves don't seem to be fazed by Aurelia; Mio looks to Mackenzie, who shrugs. Hazard gets the distinct feeling that they're having a conversation that nobody else is privy to.

* * *

"So, uh, wanna explain the 'secret' they were talking about?" Hazard asks.

Aurelia groans and adjusts the pack slung over her shoulder to keep it from sliding off. Myrna wasn't quite as happy as Solomon was about having her rad chem stock cleared out, but caps (and a sack of tatos) are still caps, and they still need rad chems for the Glowing Sea. Thankfully, they don't have to haul all of this back to Red Rocket, since Nick let them use part of his office to keep any supplies they needed for the trip.

"I don't know what secret they were talking about."

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"Deflect."

"I'm not."

"You don't remember what secrets you've told them?"

"Hazard, I haven't told them any secrets. That's why I don't know what they're talking about. And it's not just me keeping secrets from Sarah, remember?"

Aurelia glances up at Hazard with a somewhat accusatory look. Hazard stares back.

"They don't know me. They don't know what kind of secrets I might have."

"That's the thing. They do."

Aurelia sighs as Hazard stops in her tracks, the kind of sigh that one lets out when a complicated explanation is incoming.

"Listen. Scribe Mio and Scribe Mack... they know things they shouldn't know. They know things they couldn't possibly know. I don't know how, but they just do. Did you notice that they never asked for your name?"

"You introduced me to them and Knight Commander Fija."

"But Cutler asked who you were. He didn't know you. They shouldn't know you either. And they didn't pay attention to you at all, yeah?"

"I... I guess?"

"Isn't it weird," Aurelia asks, punctuating her question with a sweep of her hand. "That they wouldn't ask me who you are, when as far as they know I was supposed to be going it alone?"

"You changed your mind?"

"They know me better than that. They're Trinn's apprentices."

"Okay, so maybe they didn't ask you why you weren't alone. So what?"

"You can choose not to believe me, which I understand, but I'm telling you that those two know far more than they let on and far more than they possibly could know."

Hazard frowns.

"So is that their way of threatening to tell Sentinel Lyons everything they know?"

"No. It's their way of telling us that we're doing dangerous things and that we need to be careful."

"'We,' huh?"

This time it's Aurelia's turn to frown. She gives Hazard a chastising look, one that seems a little too accusatory.

"You're the General of the Minutemen," Aurelia reminds her. "And you haven't explained that you're trying to get into the Institute because they have Shaun. That's still dangerous information to hide from the Brotherhood."

"And what of comparable danger are you hiding from the Brotherhood, then, while you're doing recon work for them?" Hazard asks.

Aurelia shakes her head and doesn't answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the non-transliterated Japanese is on purpose. Yes, that's the same Cutler as the one Danse mentions in canon. No, he's not dead in the LLAU. Yes, he's Japanese-Okinawan and speaks Japanese.


End file.
